Maya Deren,The Mother of American Avant-Garde

Ritual in Transfigured Time

(1946)

"This film remains the most satisfying welding of Deren's
major theme; ritual myth, dance and the (search) for Female identity...Deren's
use of temporal and spatial dislocations, trance-like states and the expressive
and ritualistic spirit of dance makes it one of the highpoints of her film
work."17 This
film is a dance, but it is also a social statement about the ritual role
of women.

Beginning with three women performing household rituals,
one young, one middle-age (played by Maya), and one older woman. The younger
female then enters a party, where the actions of the people are choreographed
in an unending waltz. A man approaches the young female, and the world
changes. They are outside, and he pursues her. She runs from him. To escape
him, she walks into the water until she is submerged. As she floats down,
she is seen in a white gown. This film could easily be viewed as the interior
experiences of the female before and into marriage.

Meditation on Violence

(1948)

Based on the movements of the Chinese boxing styles of Wu-tang
and Shaolin, Maya captures the essence of the ritualist dance in this 12
minute film. Meditation runs from warm-up exercises to full sword
play and back again to warm-up (which seems like it could be shown backwards).
Some of this film's structure is similar to Choreography, but Maya is more
intent in showing Ch'oa-li Chi's (the person presented in the film) movements
in their entirety. The title of this film is the strongest social statement
this film makes. Meditation has a soundtrack written and performed
by Maya's third husband, Teiji Ito.

The Very Eye of Night

(1955)

This is a ballet of the cosmos, where the dancers are seen
entirely in the negative, and in which the dance is the movements of the
constellations which cross the night sky. Running 14 minutes, this film
is visually fun, but seems longer than needed, making the ballet movements
seem more significant than can be determined. Filmed in collaboration with
the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School under the direction of Antony Tuder,
this is the last film Maya Deren completed before her sudden death.

Maya Deren is not one who should be mourned, but one who
should be admired for her artistic determination, powerful viewpoints
and deep expressions which still live on in her films and in all future
filmmakers whose works will be influenced by her unique interpretations and
bold style. An artist dies only when they are forgotten, and that time
has not come for Maya Deren yet. That is quite a feat for a Socialist Russian
woman in the Forties who opposed Hollywood and its views.

Footnotes

1. Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, A Short History of the Movies, 6th ed.

(Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 493.

2. Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 493.

3. Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 494.

4. Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 493.

5. MESHES Perspectives

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/104/perspectives/meshes.html

6. University of Texas, Maya Deren: Biography.

http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/ams/Deren/bio.html

7. University of Texas.

8. University of Texas.

9. American Film Institute, Maya Deren Award, 1999.

http://www.afionline.org/mda/mda.home.html#MAYA

10. Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 495.

11. Maya Deren, Meshes in the Afternoon, (1959).

12. American Film Institute.

13. University of Texas, Maya Deren: Meshes in the Afternoon..

http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/ams/Deren/meshes.html

14. University of Texas, Maya Deren: Meshes in the Afternoon..

15. University of Texas, Maya Deren: A Study in Choreography for the Camera.

http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/ams/Deren/camera.html

16. American Film Institute.

17. American Film Institute.

Bibliography

American Film Institue, Maya Deren Award, 1999.

http://www.afionline.org/mda/mda.home.html#MAYA

Joseph Campbell, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, 1984.

http://www.mcphersonco.com/document/divine.html

Clark, Hodgson and Nieman, The Legend of Maya Deren, 1st ed.

New York: McPherson & Company, 1985.

Film and Video Umbrella, Rituals in Transfigured Time, 1988.

http://www.beyond2000.co.uk/umbrella/html/mayaderenintro.html

Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, A Short History of the Movies, 6th ed.

Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, 1996.

McPherson & Company, The Legend of Maya Deren, 1988.

http://www.mcphersonco.com/document/legend.html

MESHES Perspectives

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/104/perspectives/meshes.html

University of Texas, Maya Deren: Biography.

http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/ams/Deren/bio.html

University of Texas, Maya Deren: Filmography.

http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/ams/Deren/film.html

University of Texas, Maya Deren: Meshes in the Afternoon..

http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/ams/Deren/meshes.html

University of Texas, Maya Deren: A Study in Choreography for the Camera.